How a longtime market vendor wants to bring good food and good value to the Tenderloin

For nearly two decades, John Akins has been a regular presence at the Alemany Farmers’ Market and the Civic Center Heart of the City Market. A few years ago, he opened Cafe Golo on Lombard Street. With the new year comes a new project for Akins: A new restaurant in the Tenderloin that not only aims to feed the neighborhood, but to become part of the community.

John Akins.

“One of the things I’ve seen over the years is there’s a need for good, quality food in the neighborhood, for a reasonable price,” says Akins. “This coming April will be 18 years at the Civic Center. This coming November will be 19 years at Alemany. Talking to customers, one of the things that people — simple working class people — want is wholesome American food. What I mean by that is that they don’t want fancy French or chichi Italian … That’s part of my inspiration.”

“I do feel and believe that people can get quality at an affordable rate, especially that California is the agricultural capital of the world. Unfortunately, operating in San Francisco has a lot of expenses, but I still feel it can be done.”

This week, Akins got the keys to the former Manor House (210 Jones St.), near the corner of Turk and Jones. Following a cosmetic overhaul, he hopes to open it as a new sit-down restaurant as soon as next month. But the project — still unnamed — will go beyond a 49-seat comfort food cafe and restaurant; Akins has big plans to become part of the neighborhood fabric.

His landlord in the business is the Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. and the goal of the restaurant is to help the problem of the Tenderloin’s “food desert” and its limited options for fresh and healthy foods.

Akins hopes to accomplish that in several ways. He plans to keep prices low, thanks in part to his farmers’ market connections and smartly managing food costs (labor cost is an unchanging variable, he points out). He’ll offer a full menu and a selection of baked goods — breads, pastries, pot pies — but he will also allocate some room for the retail sale of fresh fruit and vegetables.

Akins wants to provide monthly meal plans for customers, a voucher system that would be aimed at nearby residents and senior citizens, thereby guaranteeing regular access to healthy meals.

He also wants to dedicate certain hours of the day to social workers or parole officers conducting their meetings in the restaurant; why meet in an institutionalized setting when you can share a meal?

Even more ambitious is teaching kids in the area how to cook, similar to what the Cooking Project is doing with Larkin Street. Akins, a certified teacher for food service and food prep, wants to work with the local junior high school and youth organizations to expose kids to the basics of cooking. He imagines simple classes, starting with sanitation and doing something as simple as making dough for pizza; the kids would take home a large pizza and large salad that could feed four to six people.

Akins knows that he has a lot of ideas and idealism, but he’s confident that he can work with neighborhood leaders to prompt change — through food.

“One of the biggest things we can offer is a thought. Then it’s all about planning and execution,” says Akins. “We know the needs are there. Because why should a person have to go to Subway or Pizza Hut or KFC, places that provides no service other than a piece of chicken and piece of bread? We know they have to eat, but what about becoming a resource?”